7 Fiction Books That Will Light You On Fire

Reading Is The Secret Weapon, Here Are The Right Bullets

Here’s why we read:

What we call following our gut is really us being subconsciously guided by every piece of information we’ve ever consumed, shaping our instincts and ideas and forming us. — Jon Westenberg

Besides reading to feel, most of us read to learn. We want to know what we need to know when we need it, and so we keep pushing the number of books. Higher. One more. Just one more.

We read books recommended by billionaires, books validated by bestseller status and books our idols tell us to read.

I didn’t read 365 books last year. But I learned from 365 different ones. After around 250, one thing became very clear:

“I don’t need more information. I need to do more stuff.”

“I wish I’d read more books” is a familiar face on our list of end-of-year regrets. But it’s never first on that list. It doesn’t come before “I wish I’d started that company” or “I wish I’d written that book” or “I wish I’d told her I loved her.”

Our top regret always comes in different shapes, yet in the same size:

“I wish I’d done more stuff.”

A lot of smart people tell us to read more. They may be right about the what, but we might be wrong about the how.

What if, instead of reading to know, we read more to do? To do great things, small things, more things, all things.

You know who’s never not motivated to do stuff?

Kids.

Children don’t read articles like this one. Children can’t spell regrets. They don’t need to. They’re too busy being the hero of their own story. That’s why we love to make them the heroes of our stories.

“I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel.” — Maya Angelou

When I point to these books, I’m not pointing to resources. I’m pointing to memories. For every single one of them, I can tell you a time and a place. More importantly, I can tell you a feeling it left me with.

What you’re reading right now, my body of work, is built on those feelings. And I can bring them back whenever I need to, just by thinking of the books. That’s worth more than even the best piece of how-to advice.

Of course you don’t have to read books to feel inspired. There are heroes all around you. Right here on Medium. Follow their journey. Fall into a rabbit hole. Fall for their story. Fall in love.

Once you feel inspired, stop. Turn the page, shut the book, close the tab and then…